Probably going to get flak for this one, but it’s been so long since I’ve written something that I feel like I’ll go insane if I don’t, hence it being labelled a “rant”. But that shouldn’t invalidate any value you may/may not gain from reading this or by agreeing/disagreeing with it. This preface is getting weirdly presumptuous… You will either like, dislike, or feel indifferent to what I’ve typed below.

I know it’s been quite some time since my last post (almost a month!), and I’m not going to make any excuses having to do with me being busy with assignments, studying for exams, and just generally being tied-up with other things outside the blog (felt drained of all energy after GamerCon). But I will say that the main reasons behind my lack of work as of recent is due to my lack of motivation and good ideas, or more accurately my (temporary) loss of discipline in carrying out my ideas.

There seems to be this common misconception that horror’s sole purpose is to terrify its audience, typically with the idea of making them jump in reaction to something startling. But horrors won’t scare everybody, and if you look back on a lot of classic horrors, they’re snore-fests for today’s audience (excluding Japanese movies, because what the fuck Japan? You’re too good at horror).

Doing a full-on analysis of something like this is tricky, since I can’t expect someone who hasn’t seen it to read this without having something spoiled for them, so before I delve into what Gakkou Gurashi does well, here’s a spoiler-free recommendation to watch at least the first episode.

John Wick: Chapter 2 is the kind of action movie I want to see thrive and re-ignite a wave of more competently made action movies. It has a strong opening, a great understanding of camera composition and focus, and a tight grip on choreographed action sequences. I’m not kidding when I say this movie is very close to being non-stop action. Not only are the fight scenes clear and easy-to-follow on account of the action geography being executed phenomenally, but they’re really creative too. Hand-to-hand combat involves holds, flips, and targeting vital areas as quickly as possible. Gunfights vary between what is essentially video game shootouts to gun martial arts, or “gun-fu”. And knife fights are still as unnerving to watch as ever.

Despite my burnout from Suicide Squad, I was actually looking forward to seeing LEGO Batman, since I liked The LEGO Movie. I was hoping it would redeem WB’s previous attempts at comic book movies. Boy, was I naive. Unfortunately, LEGO Batman has become the final nail in the coffin between me and WB’s adaptations of the DC Universe.